


Remembrance

by watcherofworlds



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-23
Packaged: 2018-07-16 21:32:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 647
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7285498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/watcherofworlds/pseuds/watcherofworlds
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sarah Rogers takes her son to visit his father's grave because she believes that it is important for him to know where he comes from.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remembrance

“Come along Steven,” Sarah said, gripping her son’s hand tightly.

“Okay Mom,” Steven said, abandoning the shard of mirror he’d found in the gutter. He walked along beside his mother, his arms outstretched as he teetered along the edge of the sidewalk. Every so often he would lean too far out and slip into the gutter, sending up a spray of water and jerking his poor mother sideways.

“Steven,” she warned. He smiled sheepishly.

“Sorry Mom.” he said. He hopped back up onto the sidewalk,making sure to keep well away from the edge this time.

“I made a new friend today,” he said. 

“Did you now?” Sarah asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “His name is James, but he said I can call him Bucky if I want to.”

“That’s nice,” Sarah said. “A boy your age needs a friend.”

She decided not to comment on her son’s split lip or on the bruise blooming around his left eye. She knew they meant he hadn’t been listening to her admonition not to get into any more fights, but she hoped that now that he’d found a friend there’d be someone around to defend him and prevent those fights from happening in the first place. The two of them were silent for a long time after their brief conversation. Steven seemed to pondering something.

Finally he asked, “Where are we going?”

“To see your father,” Sarah told him. His eyes widened.

“Really?” he asked “How?”

“You’ll see,” Sarah said. Thoughts of her husband always made her sad. She wouldn’t have been taking her son to visit his grave today at all if she didn’t think it was important for Steven to know his father, even if he could never know him the way Sarah had. 

_ Damn you Joseph, _ she thought.  _ Going off to fight in that damn war and getting yourself killed and leaving me to raise Steven all by myself. _

She was surprised at the bitterness of her thoughts. Equally surprising was the accompanying flare-up of her fiery Irish temper. The last person who’d made it act up that way had been… Joseph. He’d been just as, if not more stubborn than she was, which had led to some pretty spectacular fights early on in their relationship. If Steven turned out to be anything like his father then she knew she would dread his teenage years. 

“Mom?” Steven’s voice jolted her back to the present.

“You look angry,” he said. “Did I do something wrong?”

“Not at all,”she reassured him. “Let’s go.”

They continued on in silence until they reached the wrought iron fence of the local cemetery. Steven made a noise of surprise but said nothing as she lead him through rows of headstones. It was a while before she stopped. The cemetery seemed bigger than she remembered.

“Will you read that to me?” Sarah asked her son gently, gesturing to the headstone in front of them.

“Joseph Rogers,” Steven read aloud, sounding out each syllable carefully. “March third eighteen ninety-seven to May fifth nineteen eighteen.  _ Pro Patria et Gloria _ ” He frowned, thinking.

“Is that my dad?” he asked.

 “Yes,” Sarah replied.

 “What happened to him?”

“He was killed in the war. Mustard gas.”

She found it was easier to talk about Joseph’s death if she related the information in exactly the same way it had been related to her- flatly and with no emotion. However, Steven must have sensed her pain because all of a sudden he threw his arms around her legs, the only part of her he could reach. She rested her hand on top of his head, her fingers playing with his sandy blond hair.

“It’s okay Mom,” he whispered. “If Dad’s out there somewhere, watching over me, then I’ll making him proud. I’ll make you both proud.”

Sarah smiled and, too softly for her son to hear, said, “You already have.”

**Author's Note:**

> Joseph's epitaph, "Pro Patria et Gloria", is the motto of the 107th Infantry and means "For country and glory".


End file.
